Introduction
Always keen to impress with designs, Oppo has yet another eye-catching proposition in the R1x. There's more to it than meets the eye though, and under the neat metal case the Oppo R1x is a capable all-round midranger.
The R1x first appeared in its homeland as the R1C and was later on re-branded for the international markets. International has dubious meaning, as the device remains elusive outside of Asia. Even there it's pretty hard to find in online stores.
Limited availability may be the smartphone's greatest flaw, because the actual package has the looks and specs of a winner. The attractive design has a touch of premium, a recipe for success in the packed midrange where styling often gets sacrificed for better hardware.
A 5-inch display offers just enough screen real estate to cater to the average customer, without becoming a burden on the pocket. Meanwhile, the HD panel should strike a decent compromise between resolution and battery efficiency.
The Snapdragon 615 is among the most popular chipsets in the upper midrange and here it's backed up by 2GB of RAM, so a good all-round performance is to be expected.
The R1x is a dual-SIM device, but the second card is limited to 2G networks and it goes into the microSD slot, leaving you with the 16GB of storage only.
There's a 13MP megapixel primary camera on the back behind an f2.0 lens and the front 5MP unit has an equally wide lens for better selfies with available light.
Key features
- Dual-SIM dual-standby capability, microSD slot shared with second SIM slot
- 5.0" 720p IPS capacitive touchscreen, 294ppi
- Octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU (4x 1.7GHz plus 4x 1.0GHz), 2GB of RAM, Adreno 405 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset
- 13MP autofocus camera, single-LED flash; HDR, RAW, Panorama, long exposure (up to 15s), 25MP UltraHD modes
- 1080@30fps, 480p@120fps video recording
- 16GB of built-in storage
- Cat. 4 LTE (150/50Mbps); Wi-Fi b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.0; GPS/GLONASS; microUSB
- 2,420mAh battery capacity
- 3.5mm headphone jack, active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
Main disadvantages
- No Gorilla Glass protection
- Android KitKat 4.4.4 isn't quite up to date
- No FM radio or NFC
- Non-removable battery
We're slowly coming to terms with user-replaceable batteries being phased out in favor of slimmer profiles and premium designs, which are incompatible with a removable back cover. However, the lack of Gorilla Glass is harder to accept in a device with more upmarket aspirations. Android KitKat doesn't look particularly exciting on a spec sheet these days.
Oppo R1x 360-degree spin
The Oppo R1x measures 140.6 x 70.1 x 6.8mm which means it's footprint is about average for a 5-incher. On the other hand, at 6.8mm it's pleasantly thin, on par with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and a fraction slimmer than the iPhone 6, both of which have protruding camera units, unlike the R1x. The R1x weighs 130g which puts in on the light side of the 5-inch crowd.
Body and design
Style was obviously a top priority when Oppo went to the drawing board for the R1x. The designers did well and the device is certainly a looker.
It's a sharp rectangular slab of a smartphone with the corners only slightly rounded. A matte metal frame lines the entire handset, with its own edges finely chamfered. The frame is interrupted in four places, one for the headphone jack, the other three dictated by either antenna or assembly considerations.
Nothing special on the front
The front is dominated by the 5-inch display, surrounded by adequately sized bezels. The lack of Gorilla Glass protection and the resulting pre-applied screen protector are somewhat questionable on a device which costs around $400.
It's the back that gets us all excited though, and that's because of its eye-catching triangular pattern. Oppo has employed some sort of UV treatment on the panel and has achieved a faceted sapphire-like appearance. The triangles reflect light differently depending on the angle. It's a very subtle effect indoors, but one you'll certainly appreciate outside.
Faceted sapphire-like back plays tricks with light reflections
Controls and handling
The Oppo R1x has a straightforward set of controls, familiar from other company models. On the front you have dedicated Menu/Home/Back capacitive buttons in the bottom bezel. The top bezel houses the earpiece, flanked by the selfie camera and Proximity/Ambient light sensor assembly. The status LED is in the right corner.
Capacitive buttons • Earpiece, camera and sensors
The striking back is otherwise pretty bare. There's the 13MP camera module in the top left corner, joined by the single LED flash. The camera lens glass sits flush with the back panel, while the flash required a cutout, and an ever so slight ridge has resulted.
13MP camera on the back
The top of the device is home to a standard 3.5-inch headphone jack - at 6.8mm the R1x is thick enough to have one, unlike the 4.85mm R5, which came with a do-it-all micro-USB port. The secondary mic is on top too.
On the bottom you'll find the microUSB port in the middle with a speaker grille on each side. The left one is there for the sake of symmetry though, and there's an actual speaker only behind the right one.
3.5mm jack and second mic on top • microUSB and speaker grill on the bottom
There's nothing but a power button on the left side of the phone, while the volume rocker and card slot are on the right. The card tray is ejected with the supplied pin, and you can either load two SIM cards or a SIM and microSD. The tray goes in one-way only, but being symmetrical at first glance, you may not get it right every time. If it resists, don't force it, just flip it the other way around.
Lone power button on the left • Volume rocker and card slot on the right
The R1x is pleasantly compact in your hand, largely due to the slim profile. However, the shiny surfaces of both the front and back aren't too grippy. That said, the sharp edges of the screen, together with the metal frame, still make up for a secure grasp of the phone.
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